Such a large supermarket, with eighty percent of its contents gone, yet without any trace of chaos or disorder—the shelves remained neatly arranged.

Bai Youwei: “No need to think about it. This must have been an organized personnel evacuation.”

After a pause, she continued: “Yangzhou has no dolls, but it has this thick fog. The sudden evacuation might be related to that fog.”

There had to be a reason. Otherwise, so many people couldn’t have just disappeared without cause.

Shen Mo agreed with her assessment, pondering aloud: “They left too cleanly.”

Everyone fell silent for a moment.

Personnel evacuation wasn’t a simple matter, especially under conditions of power outages and network failures. There shouldn’t be not even the slightest trace left behind.

To give the simplest example: to notify people to seek refuge somewhere, at minimum you’d need announcement boards, right? Large banners, conspicuous flags, notices plastered all over the walls… They hadn’t seen any of these things.

“There’s another possibility…” Bai Youwei’s gaze drifted meaningfully to Shen Mo’s face. “If the number of people is small enough, evacuation can be done without leaving traces.”

If only a few dozen people remained, a single shout would be enough to evacuate them quickly.

Shen Mo looked into the distance: “Let’s keep searching.”

……

The SUV slowly drove along North Canal Road, with a somewhat aimless quality.

Half the city was shrouded in white fog. Not only could Teacher Cheng not return home, Bai Youwei and Shen Mo couldn’t return home either—the Shen family had a private garden residence in Yangzhou, adjacent to the Slender West Lake scenic area, now similarly submerged in white fog, making people afraid to approach.

The silent road seemed endless.

When they neared Ankang Road, two human figures vaguely appeared ahead on the road.

As the car drew closer, they could make out two middle school students in uniforms—one carrying a large bag of supplies, the other with a sack of rice on his shoulder.

This was the first time they’d encountered living people since entering Yangzhou City.

Shen Mo slowed the vehicle, driving alongside the two boys and asking them: “Do you know where all the people in the city went?”

The two boys stopped in their tracks, warily sizing them up and examining their vehicle.

—Shen Mo had cold, stern features with an aloof expression between his brows, while the SUV was tall and imposing, covered in dust, giving off the same intimidating aura as its owner—the kind of presence that warned against provocation.

The two boys exchanged glances but said nothing.

Teacher Cheng poked his head out from the rear window, asking kindly: “We came to Yangzhou seeking refuge. We were delayed on the road for two days, and after finally finding a place, we haven’t seen a single person. You two young friends, do you know what’s going on?”

Perhaps it was the natural affinity between teachers and students, because the boys’ expressions visibly softened.

The taller boy said: “You took the wrong route. The people seeking refuge all went to Yangzhou Port. They can’t leave until the next ship arrives.”

“A ship?!” Tan Xiao’s head also squeezed out, asking in surprise: “Where do we need to go that requires taking a ship? What if I get seasick?”

The two boys: “……”

Upon seeing Tan Xiao’s ash-white hair and flashy ear studs, they both flinched, then their eyes filled with doubt again, as if suspecting Shen Mo’s group had ulterior motives.

“Tan Xiao, you’re scaring the kids.” Bai Youwei sat in the passenger seat, her tone cool.

“Huh?” Tan Xiao looked even more surprised, pointing at his own face. “Do I look that scary?”

“You don’t look scary, but you can’t help that these kids have small courage,” Bai Youwei said dismissively.

The two boys’ faces reddened slightly.

To prove their courage wasn’t small, one of them quickly replied: “You came too late! Yangzhou was hit by thick fog. Not a single person trapped in the fog has come out, and everyone else left by ship! Now only the water surface is safe. You should hurry to Yangzhou Port—if you’re late, you won’t be able to squeeze onto the ship!”